“Just the standard election day hiccups,” said Ashley Giovannettone, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

“Polling places opened late in some areas, people wondered what ballot they can use if they register decline-to-state. Things that happen every election to one degree or another.”

There were no reports of problems with electronic voting systems although 37 counties used them in this election — 21 for the first time, Giovannettone said.

Alameda County, however, used paper ballots — many of which had to be taken to a central location to be scanned. Their acting registrar said that could delay final results until mid-day Wednesday.

Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara also had U.S. Department of Justice observers looking over their shoulders to make sure the needs of non-English speaking voters were met.

Counties with electronic voting systems, like Santa Clara, were required for the first time to have paper trails on the machines that allowed voters to verify their decisions.

“Some machines jammed but we knew that could happen so we planned accordingly,” said Elma Rosas, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County registrar’s office. “When you implement something new like this you have contingency plans.”